Nadia Kaabi-Linke

Any museum is dedicated to making visitors see, observe, and look at objects. The sight seems to reign over all other senses and occupies even my professional activity, as people call me a "visual artist." Eyesight may undoubtedly be the main entrance to the world of art, but behind the gates of visuality, we find so much more. I always felt that prioritizing the visual sense leads to a misconception of human perception that combines all sensuality and feelings. It may also limit our approach to arts. For at least fifteen years, I had the dream of realizing an idea that felt a bit crazy at the time. The idea was not only to make a whole exhibition accessible to visually impaired visitors but to make it so that the exhibition wouldn't be possible without the impact and input of those who cannot see through their eyes.

This intention led me to the Blindstrom Project, a work with historical paintings censored between 1930 and 1940 in Ukraine. It developed into an installation where the artwork was haptically perceived through the fingertips by touching and feeling the uneven traces of the damaged paintings on homogeneous black screens. At the same time, the historical context and the individual case story of each painting were delivered by visually impaired mediators. They shared what no one was able to see.

The work, Blindstrom for Kazimir, was the introductory piece of my survey exhibition "Seeing Without Light" at the Hamburger Bahnhof - National Gallery for Contemporary Art in Berlin, an exhibition that was entirely accessible to both visually impaired and seeing visitors through sonic interpretations for each of the exhibits.

My partner Timo Kaabi-Linke and I have felt that sound is a vital, profound, and direct way to touch one's heart. For this reason, we have invited and collaborated with the international Fragmentation Orchestra to do real-time improvisations inside the gallery space. We recorded the musicians' acoustic reactions to the artworks in the exhibition and produced a short sonic characteristic of each piece. The tracks were copied onto acoustic guides and constituted the exhibition's sound. Our Soundcloud Recording Playlist: https://soundcloud.com/timo-kaabi-linke/sets/seeing-without-light-sound-recordings/s-3Ym1oBLQBCY?si=e8c6dba4955c4357858b04dc47d45e82&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

The best things start for me with big dreams that manifest and break into reality when the right constellation is found and the best circumstances come together and make the impossible happen. I am deeply grateful for Monique's and Max's immense and longstanding support. Together with you, we lured this dream out of my invisible imagination into the light and shared it with so many (more than 200,000 visitors came to our exhibition).

Also, a huge thank you to Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, as well as the entire team of the Hamburger Bahnhof, for your trust and belief in our ideas and for facilitating this wonderful project.

So proud of what you have achieved with this ambitious project. Thank you for making a change
Love and TOY Monique